The present invention relates generally to sun visors installed adjacent one or more windows in cars, trucks, vans, or motor homes for filtering or blocking sunlight or glare coming in through the windows. More particularly, it concerns such a sun visor mounted on a swing arm which is nominally pivotal in a generally vertical plane with a finger-operable lock attached to the swing arm which a user can operate selectively to lock and release the swing arm to prevent or permit, respectively, pivoting of the swing arm in the generally vertical plane.
Applicant has made and sold a sun visor system for several years under the trademark, The Protector. This sun visor system, primarily for use in vehicles such as trucks and motor homes, includes a mount attachable to a wall or ceiling of the vehicle. The mount has a clevis with a pair of apertures for mounting an elongate arm which supports a transparent, tinted visor panel at a distal end. The visor panel may be positioned to hang in front of a windshield or a side window. The arm is pivotal in a generally vertical plane permitting a user to adjust the visor panel to a position higher or lower on the windshield or window as necessary to filter an unwanted source of light, such as direct sunlight, or reflected glare. The tension of the lock nut and bolt on the arm and clevis is set during manufacture of the sun visor, although, the user may subsequently readjust the tension with an Allen wrench and a socket wrench. The tension determines the ease with which the arm may be pivoted and the stability of the arm during travel. The mount and a coupling between the arm and the visor panel provide several additional degrees of freedom so the sun visor can be positioned to any position adjacent the windshield and window.
However, it would be desirable for the user to be able easily to adjust the tension holding the vertically pivoting arm. The user will want to tighten the tension on the arm as the vehicle is driven over rough or bumpy roads that may tend to jar the arm to an undesired position. On the other hand, the user under some conditions, such as hilly or winding roads where the source of undesired light is changing frequently, may need to reposition the visor panel often so that a loosened tension is better. Preferably, this readjustment of the tension can be performed by a driver of the vehicle quickly and easily while driving the vehicle. The tension of the pivot arm of the prior art device cannot be so adjusted because it requires a two-handed use of tools that must be fitted to the hardware for readjustment.
What would be preferable is a sun visor mounted on a swing arm with a finger-operable lock that the driver or a passenger can operate to lock and release the swing arm. The user would further be able to adjust the finger-operable lock so that the swing arm is very tightly held in place for rough, bumpy conditions and loosely held in place for easy repositioning during frequently changing light-source conditions. At the same time, the mount and coupling to the visor panel should provide several degrees of freedom for adjusting the position of the panel anywhere alongside the windshield and window.
The sun visor of the present invention provides all of these advantages and more. The mount includes an apertured plate, configured to be bolted to a wall or ceiling of a vehicle, and a clevis coupled to the plate by articulated joints that permit several degrees of freedom. The clevis includes two pairs of apertures, the pairs defining two axes which are offset from, and parallel to, one another. A swing arm is pivotally mounted at a proximal end to one of the pairs of apertures in the clevis and a visor panel is coupled at a distal end of the swing arm. The visor panel is coupled so as to permit additional degrees of freedom for positioning the visor panel. A slide arm is pivotally mounted at a proximal end to the other pair of clevis apertures. The slide arm is slidably held at a distal end in a slide channel in the swing arm by a bolt with a finger-operable knob which is threaded into a tapped hole in the slide arm. As the swing arm is pivoted in a generally vertical plane, the distal end of the slide arm slides relative to the swing arm in the slide channel. The finger-operable knob may be turned to tighten or loosen the engagement of the swing arm and the slide arm at the slide channel, thus selectively fixing the swing arm in place or allowing the swing arm to pivot freely.
A significant advantage of the sun visor of the present invention is that the user may adjust the swing arm so that the force required to pivot the swing arm is very large or very small. Furthermore, the user may do so easily, even while driving the vehicle, using only the fingers of one hand and without resort to tools.
These and additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood after a consideration of the drawings and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment.